Post-craniotomy follow up to to see if brain cancer has recurred in a patient usually involves a series of neurological exams, as well as CTs or MRIs. But the early diagnosis of the recurrence can give clinicians options that may otherwise be futile if used too late. To help track the sites of tumor resections, Team Consulting, a medical development company in Cambridge, England, is working on a system that can be left within the bore hole created during surgery to monitor for cancer biomarkers and deliver chemotherapy directly to the site where the cancer may recur.
Essentially, a helical porous hollow fiber would be placed like a plug. It would then circulate saline and absorb small samples of the liquid where the tumor was removed. The samples would be analyzed in the lab and if specific cancer markers are detected, the same tubing would be used to introduce chemo agents to the treatment site.
Here’s a video presenting the concept:
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